Reader Review: Zombie Apocalypse

Do you have what it takes to get a review published right here on Kotaku? Daniel does, as he plays Robotron with the undead.

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This review was submitted by Daniel Purvis. If you’ve played Zombie Apocalypse, or just want to ask Daniel more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Zombie Apocalypse (XBLA, PSN)

Capitalising on the best "end of civilisation" scenario, the cannablisation of the human race by the dead, Zombie Apocalypse casts players as one of four survivors in a top-down arena shoot 'em up that spans 55 waves. Basically, it's Geometry Wars meets Left 4 Dead (yes, with 4-player online and local co-op).

Loved

Variety: Good range of zombies to slaughter, including shambling cannon fodder, knife throwing nannas and baby-booming mothers. Plenty of weapons, from chainsaws, rifles and shotguns through to flamethrowers, chainsaws and rocket launchers. And, a wide range of game modes. Beat it on the default settings to unlock all weapons and unlimited ammo, face waves of thousands of zombies in 7 Days in Hell, and a Turbo mode, which speeds everything up.
Gorgeous: Detailed character models, colourful lighting effects, juicy blood splatter and flying giblets maintain the visual spectacle, while a range of arena specific animations, such as zombies operating heavy machinery and jet engines, also provide added incentive in the form of bonus points, should you shoot rotting flesh into the blades.

Accessibility: Once mobbed by zombies, you’ve a second to shake ‘em off before you get dead. Unlimited Continues let you die your way from beginning to end and still unlock all the extra stuff.

Hated

Repetition: After wading through 55 levels and shredding thousands of identical zombies, there's hardly any incentive to gun a swathe through the hordes again.

Zombie Apocalypse is relatively cheap, frenetic and gory fun though with a short life-span. There’s some appeal in replaying each game mode, if only to satiate curiosity, and online leaderboards encourage players to chase high scores, but ultimately Zombie Apocalypse lacks the speed, precision and balance of bred-for-competition shooters like Geometry Wars and Super Stardust HD.

Reviewed by: Daniel Purvis

You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 300 words - yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get and the best of the month will win a Madman DVD prize pack.